The Anderbros Firsts Collection
by blainedarling
Summary: A collection of moments in the lives of the brothers Blaine and Cooper Anderson.
1. The first time Blaine crawls

Twelve year old Cooper Anderson was lying upside down off the side of the couch, his toes tucked firmly into the cushions to keep himself stable, the television flickering and screeching in front of him. "I'm pretty sure this isn't even legal," he commented as he glanced across at his younger brother, whom he'd been left in the charge of for the afternoon.

Blaine glanced up from where he was busily inspecting his toes, previously occupied with watching how he could bury them in the fluffy rug and then observe them appear again, in pure delight. He fixed Cooper with one of his slobbery, sloppy grins, toothless and ridiculous, before going back to the task at hand.

Cooper rolled his eyes with a laugh before turning his attention back to the screen. His mother's reasoning had been that at seven months, two weeks and four days, there was no way Blaine was capable of moving anywhere by himself yet.

"All you have to do is keep an eye on him, keep him away from anything dangerous," she'd said with a distracted flick of her hand, as she'd preened in front of the mirror, more interested in having managed to fit back into her work suit.

He'd whined about it, of course; more for the sake of whining than anything else.

"Mom, I have _friends_, I don't want to play babysitter," he'd grumbled, not that she'd even listened as she thanked him and pushed him out of the room.

But, honestly, Cooper didn't mind. He loved spending time with his baby brother. Obviously, he couldn't talk yet, but somehow he was pretty sure he understood Cooper better than anyone else in the family.

"Are you hungry? I'm hungry," Cooper announced suddenly, looking back to where Blaine was. Or, rather, where Blaine had been. He froze, his toes loosing their grip in his panic, sending him crashing to the floor wildly. He looked up from his heap on the floor, arm painfully squashed under his chest at the sound of Blaine's gurgling laughter, from where he now sat. At the opposite end of the table.

"You moved," Cooper murmured, narrowing his eyes at his brother curiously.

Blaine responded with another gurgle, his warm hazel eyes sparkling at his own joke. His little legs were padding against the carpet gently as he kicked them up and down gleefully.

Cooper nibbled his lip thoughtfully, wondering how he was going to encourage him to repeat his new skill, with him actually watching this time.

"Blaine," he cooed, pulling himself up and crouching at the spot where Blaine had been originally. "Come here little brother, c'mon." He fixed him with his charming, classic Cooper smile, silently congratulating himself when Blaine carefully, slowly pushed himself onto his hands and knees, a look of confident determination on his face.

Once Blaine got going, he was impressively fast, scampering across the carpet on his hands and knees, launching himself into Cooper's arms with a squeal of delight as his older brother caught him, tossing him up into the air a little.

"You're a sneaky one," Cooper laughed, rubbing his nose against Blaine's snotty one gently while the younger Anderson beamed up at him proudly.


	2. The first time Blaine says Cooper's name

Family dinners in the Anderson household were a fairly rare occurrence. Not even the arrival of Blaine had been enough to encourage their father to work just that little bit less. Their mother did try and cut her days shorter now that she, too, was back at work for "the sake of the baby" but even then, Cooper found himself, more often than not, in charge of his baby brother during the afternoons, evenings and weekends.

For once, by some miracle, they are all seated around the dinner table at the same time; parents at either end, Blaine and Cooper across from one another. Cooper had already fed Blaine earlier but their mother had insisted that he be seated with the rest of them. Regardless, their father continued to protest about the racket he was making, as the younger Anderson happily drummed against his high chair, tiny pink tongue stuck out in concentration. Occasionally, he'd look up to flash a grin across at his older brother, receiving an approving nod for his music making.

"So," their mother began, setting down her fork as she looked between her husband and eldest son. "Why don't you tell your father about the school play? Hm, Cooper?"

"Coop."

The three Andersons paused, the question forgotten as they turned to look at Blaine, who stared blankly back at them.

"Coop," he repeated, pointing his pudgy arm across at his brother.

Cooper laughed happily, grinning back at him. "That's me, squirt."

Blaine giggled, ignoring his family as he went back to his drumming in earnest.

"Well," their father started as he finished his meal. "That's an improvement on your first words, Cooper." He chuckled, to himself more than anyone else, excusing himself from the table.

Their mother laughed a little, her eyes glossy as if remembering some past times. She gathered up her plate, walking round to get her husband's as she headed towards the kitchen.

"Wait, what were my first words?" Cooper asked suddenly, frowning.

"Ice cream," his mother called, as she walked out of the room.

Blaine's face lit up at the words, his hands frozen mid air as he grinned.

"Coop!" he shrieked, his feet knocking against the chair in his excitement. "Ice cream!"

Cooper burst into a fit of giggles, which only increased when he heard his mother sigh in the kitchen.

"Good job Blaine," Cooper whispered to his brother.

"Coop," Blaine replied with big grin, his dark curls bouncing on his head.


	3. TFT Cooper thinks Blaine might be gay

By the time they stopped to get something to eat, Cooper was cursing his mother for dressing Blaine up in bow ties as a child.

"I really don't think you need any more," he commented drily as he and his brother sat down with their food.

Blaine just rolled his eyes in response, setting the bags down neatly on the spare chair. He was practically looking at the bag with heart eyes at this point, prompting Cooper to make a vague sound of disgust.

"Would you and the bow ties like some privacy?" he smirked, earning himself a light whack on his arm from the younger Anderson.

Cooper looked up to make another snide comment, pausing when he saw Blaine's attention had focused elsewhere. His hands were frozen, his sandwich halfway up to his mouth, as he gazed across the mall with a slightly glassy look in his eye. He raised an eyebrow and twisted in his seat to try and follow his gaze. Before he could figure out what had had Blaine so transfixed, the younger boy tugged on his sleeve desperately.

"Coop, don't stare," he hissed, his eyes flickering back down to his food.

The older boy just shook his head, turning back to his own food.

"Excuse me?" came a smooth voice from beside them. Cooper looked up to see a boy, probably only a few years older than Blaine, smiling at the two of them kindly. "I know it's sort of occupied," he laughed, gesturing down to the chair with the bags, "but would I be able to grab this chair? We're one short."

Blaine made an odd squeaking noise in agreement, his cheeks flushing as he hastily grabbed the bags from the chair and moved them to the ground.

"Thank you," the stranger replied with a genuine smile to Blaine, his eyes flashing momentarily to the older boy who was watching the scene unfold with interest, a smirk twitching at the corners of his mouth.

"Cute bow tie, by the way," he added before going back to his friends with the chair.

Blaine blushed proudly, turning back to his food when he saw Cooper's gaze fixed on him, his brother's eyebrow quirked in amusement.

"So, that's your type," Cooper commented, his tone soft.

Blaine just looked up at him, opening his mouth as if to respond and then deciding against it.

"The bow ties will be so hurt," Cooper sighed dramatically, laughing as Blaine returned to his usual self, tossing a balled up food wrapper at his head in irritation.


	4. TFT Cooper brings a girl home

Blaine paused as he heard the sound of voices on the driveway, pattering down the stairs, ready to greet his brother. As usual. Except, unlike usual, he had someone with him. A blonde, girl someone.

"Melanie, this is my baby brother," Cooper said, his eyes sparkling down at Blaine.

"You're so adorable," Melanie cooed as she crouched down to eye level with the five year old, running a finger over his vibrant red bow tie.

Blaine frowned, thinking back on how he'd seen his father greet people who came to the house. "Blaine Devon Anderson," he finally said, in a firm tone, his eyebrows knitting together in concentration as he stuck out his hand to the older girl.

Melanie giggled, straightening up and taking a hold of Cooper's arm. "Oh, he is just precious," she murmured, gazing down at the little boy.

Blaine shifted his gaze to his brother, pouting slightly as he moved his hand, that she hadn't even bothered to shake, back down to his side.

"I don't like her, Coop," Blaine announced when his older brother tucked him up into bed that evening.

Cooper laughed softly, kneeling at the side of his bed. "I don't really like her much either, squirt."

Blaine looked at Cooper in question as he buried down into the warmth of his blankets.

"She likes to play with my hair," Cooper grumbled, self consciously patting at his brown locks.

Blaine made a noise of agreement, reaching up to brush at his own hair. Neither of the Anderson brothers were fond of people touching their hair; something they had no doubt picked up due to a mother who persistently liked to do exactly that.

"I'll find you a princess, Coop," Blaine mumbled through a yawn as he curled up on his side, his eyes already closing.

"Goodnight Blaine," Cooper murmured with a soft smile, leaning down to press a gentle kiss to his younger brother's forehead.


	5. The first time Cooper leaves for school

"Coop?" Blaine called out, rubbing his eyes as he shuffled down the stairs. His curly hair was stuck up at bizarre angles from how he'd slept on it; his superhero pajamas bunched up around the ankles.

"In the kitchen," his brother yelled back, the sound of the clinking of crockery reaching his younger brother's ears.

Blaine grumbled slightly as he reached the bottom of the stairs, his small foot bumping into something bulky in the hallway.

He looked around in surprise at the collection of bags, packed full enough to burst, accompanied by a few cardboard boxes. He could see their mother's neat writing along the sides of the boxes, but he wouldn't know what they said without asking.

Blaine sighed, pushing past the bags to get to the kitchen, hauling himself carefully up onto one of the chairs, his tongue stuck out in concentration.

"Why are there all those bags in the hallway?" he asked, resting his head in his hands as he watched his brother putting together some breakfast.

"It's a Saturday morning obstacle course, just for you," Cooper replied with a goofy grin. "I call it 'Adventure to the kitchen!'"

The younger Anderson giggled appreciatively, although the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. He knew Cooper was keeping something from him; he could tell from the way he was grinning at Blaine now, almost sadly.

"Where are you going, Coop?" Blaine asked quietly, fixing his warm eyes on his older brother intently.

Cooper sighed, pointing his spoon across at him. "You're a smart kid."

"You didn't answer my question," Blaine said, with a small frown.

"College. It's like school but for big kids, like me."

Blaine thought for a moment, chewing on his lip in concentration.

"But, why do you need so many bags?" he asked, his eyelashes fluttering slightly as he tried to make sense of what was going on. He rubbed his nose fiercely, before pushing the hair from his eyes.

"It's too far away for me to come back here every night, so I'm moving out," Cooper said softly. He'd kept it from Blaine for far too long; he didn't have time to sugar coat it.

"You're leaving me?"

Blaine's voice was so quiet, Cooper nearly didn't hear it. He just looked across at his brother in response, opening and closing his mouth a few times as he realised there was absolutely nothing he could say that would make it better.

"I'll be home for the holidays," he offered meekly in reply.

"I don't understand," Blaine murmured, hiccuping a little as fat, wet tears started streaming down his cheeks.

"Blaine, Blaine _wait,_" Cooper called, as Blaine slipped out of his chair, padding quickly back out of the door and up the stairs, determined not to let his brother see him cry.

"What happened?" their mother asked, as she walked in from the living room to find her elder son, nearly in tears himself.

"Blaine," he mumbled quietly, slamming his bowl down onto the counter.

Blaine refused to leave his room for the rest of the day. He wouldn't even come down to say goodbye to Cooper and when he tried coming into his room, Blaine sat in his closet, firmly holding the door shut. Blaine watched from his window as their father drove Cooper away, waiting until he saw the car turn around the corner before finally leaving his room, to crawl into his mother's waiting arms and let himself cry.


	6. TFT Blaine walks in front of Cooper

Cooper dug around in his pocket for his keys as he walked up to the front door, his feet dragging along the path. He'd been away at a soccer tournament for the weekend, that had left him exhausted, bruised and in desperate need of a shower.

"I'm home," he called out vaguely as he walked through the door. Luckily, one of his teammates lived close by and had been able to drop him home, so his mom didn't have to come and pick him up with Blaine.

He looked up in surprise at the sound of little feet padding on the hardwood floors and saw his baby brother toddling towards him. His tongue was stuck out in concentration as he waddled, a little unbalanced, towards him.

"When did this happen?" he asked in confusion as his mother appeared in the doorway.

"This morning," his mother laughed, smiling fondly at her two sons as Cooper picked up Blaine when he reached him.

"You're going to be a little terror now, aren't you?" Cooper laughed, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Blaine's head.

Blaine whined, wriggling in Cooper's grasp as he struggled to get out of his embrace.

"I don't smell that bad, do I?" Cooper frowned, pouting at Blaine comically.

"Put him down Cooper, he wants to show off," his mother advised.

"Ah," Cooper nodded in understanding, placing Blaine carefully down onto the ground again. "He's very much an Anderson."

He grinned happily as he watched Blaine start off again, making it halfway across the hall before tripping up over his own tiny toes, sending him tumbling down with a soft thump.

Blaine huffed out, his pink mouth puckering into a pout as his eyes starting welling up with tears.

"Hey, squirt, it's okay," Cooper reassured him as he knelt down by his side, placing a firm, warm hand on his small back. "We all fall sometimes. You've just got to get up and try again."

Blaine looked up at him from the floor with his wide eyes, snuffling slightly.

Cooper gently wiped the tears away with the pad of his thumb, before hoisting Blaine back to his feet. Blaine was soon off again, making it through the door to the lounge before they heard the next bump.

"He'll be dancing in no time," Cooper commented, peering round the door to watch Blaine pull himself up yet again, with a frustrated sigh, and continue on his way.


	7. The first time Cooper hears Blaine sing

Cooper hauled his bags up the steps of the front porch with a grunt, dropping them into a pile as he dug around for his key. His parents were still at work, so he'd had to take a cab home from the airport, despite his protests about the amount of stuff he had with him. It was summer break, which meant clearing everything out of his college dorm and bringing the whole lot back to Ohio again.

The sound of soft piano music hit him as soon as he walked in the front door; Blaine, he assumed. He'd just started lessons when Cooper had left at the start of the year and from the sound of it, the boy was a natural.

He walked carefully through the house, not wanting to startle his younger brother into stopping playing. He paused in the doorway, tucking himself just behind so he was still out of sight. It was only then that he realised that Blaine was also singing.

Sure, he'd heard Blaine sing before. But, that had been as a little kid, where it had all been about the performance, not the voice. No, he'd never heard Blaine sing like this. His voice was warm and gentle, packed with far more emotion that he thought normal eleven year olds were even capable of. As the music rose and fell, so did Blaine's voice, peaking and growing beautifully.

The music faded out as he got to the end of the song, and Cooper slowly peered around the door.

"Coop?" Blaine murmured, looking up in surprise. He'd been so caught up in practicing recently, that he'd sort of forgotten that he would be coming home for the summer.

"You sound incredible," Cooper smiled, walking into the room to sit down on the piano bench next to the younger Anderson. "Seriously...incredible."

Blaine flushed proudly, resting his fingers lightly over the keys. "I've been practicing really hard," he mumbled.

"I'll bet," Cooper replied, mussing up his hair affectionately. "We've got to get you an agent, squirt."

Blaine chuckled, bumping his shoulder against his brother's gently.

"Actually, scratch that. _I'll _be your agent."


	8. TFT they perform for the neighbours

"Coop," Blaine mumbled, tugging on his older brother's sleeve gently. "I'm nervous."

Cooper knelt down so he could be at eye level with him, placing his hands on the younger Anderson's shoulders firmly. "Don't be. They won't know what hit them."

Cooper had been pestering his mother relentlessly about letting them perform at one of their regular parties for the neighbours, insisting that Blaine was now "performance ready" and that "it was time". Eventually, she'd agreed to let them sing one song for the ladies who came over for the book group and, if that went well, perhaps they could do another one at the weekend.

"Oh, Blaine, honey, how old are you now?" Mrs Andrews, from two doors down, asked as they walked into the room.

"Four and a half," Blaine mumbled, his cheeks slightly pink as he looked up to Cooper for encouragement.

"Go ahead boys," their mother reassured gently, smiling around at the other ladies.

A surprised chuckle went around the group as the boys launched into Duran Duran's Rio, Blaine making sure to always watch Cooper out of the corner of his eye to keep in time with him. The further into the performance they got, the more the boys forgot about how it was a performance, and just let themselves enjoy it. By the time they finished, they were grinning breathlessly at each other, while the book club ladies clapped their hands appreciatively around them.

From that evening on, the Anderson brothers were the most sought after act on Oregon Street.


	9. The first time they go trick-or-treating

"Blaine, hurry up, or all the good candy will be gone!" Cooper yelled up the stairs, adjusting the cape of his Batman costume as he peered in the mirror in the hallway.

"Look after him, okay?" his mother reminded him for the dozenth time as Blaine's soft footfalls started thumping down the staircase.

Cooper nodded. "He'll be safe with me," he assured her, in his best Batman voice, deep and scratchy.

Behind him, Blaine sighed, looking down at his Robin costume with a small frown.

"Oh sweetie, wait, I got you something!" Mrs Anderson called out, rustling around in the top drawer of the table in the hall and pulling out a small black bow tie. "I thought you might like this to go with your costume."

"Mom, Robin doesn't wear a bow tie," Cooper huffed, but quickly stopped complaining at the sight of the grin that spread across his little brother's face as she tied it on for him.

Blaine clambered up a few steps so he was high enough to be able to see his reflection in the mirror, the grin sliding off his face a moment later, replaced with that same frown from before. He lowered his eyes, curls falling down into his face as he trudged back down to join Cooper. "Let's just go," he mumbled, tugging on the edge of his cape lightly.

Cooper frowned, ducking down to be eye level with Blaine, nudging his chin up gently. "What's wrong, kiddo?"

Blaine looked up, his warm honey eyes a little watery. "I don't want to be a sidekick. I want to be a superhero, like you." His bottom lip wobbled a little as he pouted, his long eyelashes fluttering over his eyes.

Cooper sighed: he was incapable of denying his little brother anything when he pulled out that face. "I have an idea."

He ran up the stairs two at a time (much to his mother's distaste) and headed straight for his room, digging around in a drawer before he found what he was looking for. Blaine was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, glancing between where the older Anderson had disappeared to and his mother, uncertainly.

"Here," Cooper announced, sliding the cat ear headband onto Blaine's head. "Now you're not Robin; you're not sidekick. You are Kittenboy."

Blaine gurgled happily, reaching up his arms for Cooper to pick him up so he could see himself. He smiled proudly at his reflection, before wrapping his arms around Cooper's neck tightly. "You're the best brother ever," he whispered.

* * *

All in all, the boys had a successful night. At each door, Cooper would go a little ahead and make sure to whisper to their neighbour who Blaine was. With each person that said "oh my, it's Kittenboy!" Blaine's smile grew wider and wider; added to significantly by the amount of sugar they were consuming along the way.

* * *

By the time the light was starting to fade, their arms were laden with bags of candy and Cooper knew their mother would no doubt be starting to worry. He watched fondly as Blaine skipped ahead, his cape fluttering out behind him as he went, the cat ears jiggling on his head and very nearly falling off a few times.

Cooper opened their front door and Blaine went hurtling in to find his parents who were sitting in the living room, his brother following close behind.

"Meow!" Blaine yelled, as threateningly as he could, miming a clawing action before he jumped onto the sofa.

"Now now, Blaine, superheroes are supposed to be good, not scary," his father tutted, shaking his head a little with an affectionate smile towards his son.

"But Coop looks a bit scary," Blaine reasoned, pulling a lollipop from his bag with a satisfied coo and sticking it into his mouth.

"I've got to look a bit scary to protect you," Cooper commented as he walked in, tossing his mask off as he went and sitting down next to Blaine.

"I don't need you to protect me," Blaine protested, his words garbled a bit by the lollipop still stuck in his mouth.

"How about this instead then: I'll look after you and you look after me. Deal?"

Blaine considered this for a moment, slurping on his lollipop thoughtfully before turning to Cooper with a sticky grin. "Deal."


	10. The first time they go to camp

Originally, their mother had tried to sign the boys up for two different camps, thinking it might be good for them to spend some time with kids their own age, instead of just each other all the time. But Blaine and Cooper had protested loudly against this, pleading and begging both of their parents to let them go to the same one. It took Blaine throwing a full-on tantrum, complete with stomping feet and angry tears, for their mother to relent and agree to send them to a performing arts camp in California for a month in the summer. Together.

* * *

The boys were split into two different groups for their activities, given the age difference, as well as being put in different dorm areas. Cooper quickly made friends with both the boys in his group and the boys he shared a cabin with and soon found himself spending more and more time with them, and less with his little brother. They'd stay up late, telling the kind of ghost stories he never could tell around Blaine without him getting scared and upset.

After a few days of apologising to Blaine every time he left him at the door of the dining hall to join his friends, the younger Anderson stopped waiting for him. Cooper assumed Blaine must have made his own friends and was busy with them, just as he was with his own.

It wasn't until halfway through the second week that Cooper properly saw Blaine again. Everyone was around at the evening campfire and he'd jogged back to his cabin to get an extra sweater as night fell and it got colder. He was just walking back when he heard the soft sound of someone crying, coming from behind the big oak tree a little away from where all the kids were gathered.

Cautiously, he stepped closer to the tree, noting the familiar red shoes poking just into his view.

"Hey squirt," he murmured, sitting down next to his younger brother, who snuffled and wiped at his eyes quickly.

"Hey," he replied, not looking up at Cooper, his toe scuffing at the ground a little.

"What's wrong?"

Blaine just shook his head, goosebumps appearing up his arms as he shivered. "Mm'fine," he mumbled unconvincingly.

"B, tell me why-" Cooper was cut off as Blaine wrapped his arms around himself, his gaze falling immediately to the bruises on his elbows. "Who did this to you?" he asked coldly.

Blaine shook his head again, curls bouncing wildly. "N-no-one, I...tripped."

"No, you didn't. Blaine, who hurt you?"

Blaine nibbled his lip anxiously, before turning to look up at Cooper. "The boys in my cabin," he whispered. "They said I'm funny looking and I'm no fun because I like superheroes and they like cars."

Cooper frowned, wrapping his arms tightly around his younger brother. "They're stupid. Superheroes are way more fun than cars, everyone knows that."

They sat like that for a while, Cooper letting Blaine just sit and relax for a while before he gently coaxed him back out to the fireside. He pulled off his sweater, giving it to Blaine instead, who was shivering madly, laughing fondly at how it reached down past his knees, the sleeves hanging low.

"Hey, Coop, look at me!" Blaine called out, running ahead, the sweater billowing out behind him, almost like a cape. "I'm a superhero!"

A group of boys around Blaine's age looked up at the sound of his voice, running over to him quickly. Their voices overlapped one another as they surrounded Blaine, who had stopped to look at them nervously before he smiled at them a little.

"I'm Blaine," he grinned round at the group, who hustled him off to their side of the camp fire; Cooper just giving an encouraging nod when Blaine looked back at him.

* * *

Cooper arranged for Blaine to swap and move into the cabin with the boys he met that evening, and as a result heard story after story of how they stayed up late creating blanket forts and sharing superhero adventures. Meanwhile, he and his friends tracked down the boys from Blaine's previous cabin, giving them a very quick and pointed lesson in messing with an Anderson.

* * *

In the end, camp worked out for all of them. The boys made new friends who were their own age, which satisfied their mother immensely, but they still looked out for one another. And, with a little help from his younger brother, Cooper even gave a masterclass at their end of camp gala night on the art of pointing.


End file.
